Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Geography affected how settlements developed in ancient Greece. Isolated communities, separated from each other by steep mountains, grew in diverse ways. For example, differences arose in how people governed themselves. In this chapter, you will learn about the various forms of government in these ancient Greek communities. The ancient Greeks had many things in common. For example, they spoke the same language. But the Greek people did not view Greece as one country. Rather, they identified with a hometown that they called their city. Each of these cities included both a settlement and its surrounding farmland. Most Greeks were fiercely proud of their cities. Each city had its own laws, its own army, and its own form of money. For these reasons, ancient Greek cities are called city-states. The ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia were the first people to form city-states. Like the Sumerian city-states, individual Greek city-states had their own form of government. In this chapter, you will explore the four forms of government that developed in the Greek city-states: monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, and democracy. You will also trace how one form of rule led to another, until the Greeks eventually developed democracy.
Compared with the poor, oligarchs had very comfortable lives. They often spent their days either hunting or taking part in chariot races. In the evenings, they might host or attend parties, during which slaves and hired performers entertained guests with music, dance, and acrobatics. Unlike the aristocrats, the poor had to work long hours in the fields. They saw the unfair differences between their difficult lives and the easy lives of the wealthy aristocrats. To make matters worse, the oligarchs ignored the needs of the majority of the people. By passing laws that favored the rich, the oligarchs protected and increased their own wealth. They used the army to force others to obey these unjust laws. In some city-states, such laws forced farmers who were unable to pay their debts to sell themselves into slavery. Under the rule of the oligarchs, the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. Hate for the oligarchs grew. Eventually, the poor turned to other leaders who promised to improve their lives. Typically, these leaders were in the army. Backed by the people, they used their soldiers to throw the oligarchs out of power.
Ancient Greek democracy was different from democracies today. The government of Athens was a direct democracy. In that type of government, every citizen is allowed to vote on every issue. Unlike Athens, the United States is a representative democracy. In this type of government, people may vote for representatives who then decide issues on behalf of the people. How did direct democracy work in Athens? The city had an assembly, or lawmaking group. Any free man could speak in this assembly and vote on a possible new law or a proposal to go to war. Free men also ran the citys day-to-day business. Not all Greeks believed that democracy was a good type of government. Powerful speakers sometimes persuaded ordinary citizens to vote unwisely. Often, an assembly reversed important decisions after just a few weeks. Problems like these led most city-states to return to earlier forms of government, such as dictatorships and oligarchies. But the idea that people can and should rule themselves would survive. In time, the ideal of democracy would become one of the great gifts from ancient Greece to the modern world.
Summary
In this chapter, you read about four forms of government used by ancient Greek citystates. Monarchy: One Person Inherits Power Most Greek city-states were monarchies until about 800 B.C.E. In a monarchy, one person, usually a king, holds the power. Ancient Greek kings had councils of aristocrats to help them rule. Oligarchy: A Few People Share Power Between about 800 and 650 B.C.E., most Greek citystates were ruled by oligarchies, in which power is held by a few people. Most oligarchs were wealthy aristocrats who ignored the needs of poor people. The poor eventually turned to leaders who promised to improve their lives. Tyranny: One Person Takes Power by Force From the mid-600s to about 500 B.C.E., many Greek city-states were ruled by tyrants. Tyranny is a form of government in which a person who is not a lawful king holds the power. Democracy: All Citizens Share Power The people of Athens were the first Greeks to develop a form of democracy, known as a direct democracy, in which every citizen was allowed to vote on every issue.